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Phillip Rhodes Hats

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25.01.2022 From flat felt off-cut to heart-ful headdress. A new class coming to Zoom-classsroom via B_Unique. Using traditional millinery materials and milliner’s ingenuity, create dimensional shapes without blocks or blocking to bring unique style to hats and headdresses. Class dates available shortly!

23.01.2022 Latest edition of that World-wide favourite, The Hat Magazine, asked me a question..... so I answered it. As a milliner whose work reflects the spirit of the age as opposed to ‘trends’ or transient notions of ‘on point’ , how could one divorce the clothes that we wear from the social climate in which we live? There is always an excitement in the NEW and there are bigger forces at play than the big-follower insta-fluencers, content creators, marketers or publicists ca...n begin to imagine. What we do; wear; choose in the next phase will reflect the intelligence of our collective response to the incredible year that is 2020.

21.01.2022 How quickly we adapt to social change. A stroll in the park reveals a population masked against contagion. Something which would not have seemed possible but 6 short weeks ago. Everyone is turning their hand to creating masks; including milliners. Will the designer mask really emerge as a phenomenon from this crisis? Deciding to push the notion a little beyond the work-a-day practical, I put together something a little more deliberate.... Will costume curators take ‘Covid 19 designer masks’ into consideration to add to their collections in acknowledgement of THE fashion imperative of 2020? See more

21.01.2022 Never assume! Whilst President of the Millinery Association of Australia, I was asked to speak at the Kangan School’s Gala for graduating millinery students. Recalling my own experiences at the outset of my own training, I did not hold back on outlining the sheer slog that still lay ahead for graduates to master the skills required of a fully-rounded, competent, workroom milliner. True to any genuine commencement address, I noted that not everyone will manage to climb that ...rickety career ladder. Unwittingly digging an even deeper hole, I made light of the sort of workroom conditions that I had experienced in Australia and later in London. Reminiscing about the rain-soaked, London-brick, walled- in outlook in Dickensian Camden Town and the head-bumping, under-the-staircase cubbyhole of Bond Street. But my moment of retribution came much later, publicly and like all good ‘got-ya’ moments, unexpectedly, whilst chairing a members’ meeting. I was the destroyer of dreams, the complaining unworthy recipient of training no longer available.... was I even.....a braggard? My mistake? The assumption that graduates would want to know my truth. My folly? The sharing whilst savouring the humour in nostalgia. See more

20.01.2022 Spring blooming in every quarter, mask-wearing de riguer and the thoughts of the young-at-heart turn to chic headwear. Ditch the bonnet this year! Could anything be more ‘en pointe’ than customised PPE? Fashioning millinery elements to express 2020s ultimate trend; strictly ‘souhaitable’.... n’est-ce pas? Silk gingham; wheaten straw; festive field-flower hues; elevate neutrals to high chic this season.... Social distancing doesn’t need to mean safe choices. Be party-ready when the red-lights turn to green! See more

19.01.2022 Long long ago I found myself in a shopping mall in Wagga Wagga pointing out the finer details of some hat or other of my own contriving to an inconvenienced throng of trolley-pushing, Friday-night, super-market shoppers..... I can only say that I did it with sincerity and wearing a red coat that I have completely forgotten ever owning.

18.01.2022 The unexpected opportunities that 2020 has presented @philliprhodeshats. Last year working 14 hours every day on Melbourne Theatre Company’s Shakespeare in Love saw me collapse with physical exhaustion. 2020 has provided the chance to stop and review past, present and future. Zoom-classroom with B Unique Millinery has been an extraordinary opportunity to share techniques and finesse of making with an international audience. Teaching butterfly trimmings July 31st.

18.01.2022 Up at the crack-of-dawn last Thursday to lead ‘Flat felt to Heartfelt’ @ b_unique millinery to a coterie of students from across the globe. Zoom-learning is an incredible inter-active environment via which ideas/concepts/experiences/technique/aesthetic/fellowship come together. Using commonplace workroom materials to create a dimensional object without use of special equipment. Results were outstanding because students rely on their innate millinery ability and training in a ...new but related application. From Colorado @missvictoriaregina had training coupled with opportunity to create a ‘sacre coeur’ in relation to a Frida Kahlo Exhibition. Whilst in Canberra, Maree @mm2bmillinery had the pleasure of finding a home for her mother’s lace and some lonely-waif, assorted trinkets. Everyone’s work reflects their millinery personality and the technique is now theirs to further develop. More classes coming soon. In the midst of one of my millinery-bible-parables, a student ventured, ‘Classes from a traditionally work-room trained milliner are.... different!’ Perhaps it is the sense of workroom-table intimacy; after all that is my natural forum. See more

18.01.2022 Up before curfew ended this morning to teach my secrets to headdress-making @B_Unique Millinery. A great class that moved swiftly and all participants completed the wire, crinoline straw and tulle bases as well as their lace garnitures. Next class is Friday with ‘Back to Basics’...... the ultimate straw hat lesson repleat with trimmings made from off-cuts. B there or b square.

18.01.2022 It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas @philliprhodeshats after the inaugural @Table.4.SIX millinery class created dimensional Christmas Stockings employing hat-making method to a festive end. A fun way to cap the year. New content coming in 2021! #zoomclasses #millineryaustralia #millinerycouture #christmasdecor #christmasdecorations

17.01.2022 Happy15th Birthday Victorian Opera! Somewhere along the line, I stepped onto the train. Combing through my studio photographs, I have located some hats that I have made over the years. There are more......somewhere! Vive le Arts!

17.01.2022 Up at the crack of dawn to attend a turban-headband class with Texan Laura Del Vilaggio @b_unique. Always interested in the expertise of other milliners and their method of delivery. I added an EVA-foam hibiscus from my class with Florida’s @hatstodifor also @b_unique. On the eve of launching my own series of classes @Table.4.SIX. Based on the success of my mentoring/coaching style of learning, watch out for forthcoming notification of course codes for opening-celebratory complimentary sessions!

16.01.2022 I suppose there is some truth to the notion that any milliner worth their salt has a ‘design eye’. In theatrical work a maker walks a fine line balancing the task of interpreting a designer’s vision and infusing just enough of one’s own creative spark to bring life to the work. Some designers revel in a milliner’s contribution; others are a little more leery. So to create a Christmas Wreath for a client with a strong aesthetic was a little challenging. But a little ribbon... a few leaves and berries and a handful of nuts..... how hard can it be??? Hmmmm?

14.01.2022 Millinery Mayhem @b_unique millinery. A contemporary fedora fashioned with minimum fuss and basic blocks from beautiful, natural buntal hood. Linen band and decorative loop trimming are a little extra add-on to add a holiday mood. Places limited.

13.01.2022 Some eerily accurate predictive thoughts from February this year about the future direction of millinery to the race-going woman. Phillip Rhodes Hats has always concentrated on creating beautifully constructed, intelligent hats aimed at wardrobe longevity. Hats will really need to earn their wardrobe space in the post-Covid world! https://www.flemington.com.au//20/theatre-meets-simplicity

12.01.2022 Mask making during Stage 4 Restrictions, Melbourne, August 2020. The current buzz-word is ‘pivot’. I didn’t commence mask-making early. I had a few attempts before hitting my stride. I make masks from a milliner’s viewpoint. They need structure and comfort.... The underpinning is double thickness cotton organdie. The linings are linen. The elastics leave the ears alone ( mine cost too many $$$ to be hooking elastics onto them!) Many women have amused themselves by wearing a handmade Phillip Rhodes this season. I go about the work methodically and with interest. I appreciate the support of clients who have placed orders. Masks have provided a bridge of connection in a time of physical separation. My masks are slow-burn. They take the best part of 2 1/2 hours to make; they occupy my waking hours. The days fly by. I am inspired to honour this fashion phenomenon of 2020 with some fun and foolish artistry. Who knows what the future holds for traditional artisans? But the excitement of prospective change does not pass me by. I am happy to say that I joined in this circus. I have gained from the experience. See more

11.01.2022 Surviving the pandemic as a milliner. Having already survived the dropping of tariffs; the loss of major wholesale customers ; the incremental loss of small wholesale accounts, the ‘change is good’ move away from real hats by real women; fraudulent betrayal by a business partner; theft of intellectual property......I guess I will survive this! Now making masks to order!

09.01.2022 Strange how life can play out. When I was a lad of 22, I somehow managed to gain a place at the workroom table of Mr Individual Hats. Of course, gaining the place was one thing: holding the job quite something else. Looking back across 38 years, I have been fortunate to work in a job that I have enjoyed. I also realise that I made much of my own 'luck'. Passing on millinery knowledge used to be a matter of training a young person in the ways of the 'house'.... As circumstances have changed and the cost of manufacturing has escalated, work-room training has disappeared. I have never taught very much as I don't quite agree with task driven learning. That is not how I learnt to make hats. Covid19 knocked me off the prescribed 'velodrome' circuit that is a working year in hats and pushed me in the direction of the Zoom Classroom. Strange as it may seem, 'distance' learning has proved to deliver its own peculiar sense of intimacy. Working with B Unique Millinery, I have discovered that Zoom is a very quiet, up-front and personal method of delivering millinery learning. It actually feels like sitting around the workroom-table which is my natural habitat and where I feel most comfortable. Consequently, this environment brings out in me the natural teaching and sharing of my approach to hat making. Next week-end, B Unique have conveniently scheduled my class in handling hat felt for students not available through the week. But like all my classes, it is the incidental millinery lessons that crop up whilst we sit in the virtual circle 'making' hats together that make my classes different. Join me for this class for a taste of workroom life. https://www.buniquemillinery.com//b-unique-with-flat-felt- See more

09.01.2022 Heads up! Coming very soon to B Unique Virtual Training Programme, a neat little skilled-based class called 'Millinery Hack: Stock to Chic'. Making the commonplace into milliner's confection. All my little classes co-ordinate to share the secrets developed and learnt across my career for greater finish and finesse in hat-making.... Collect the whole set!

09.01.2022 Staying connected during this time of stand-downs and lock-down has been vital in maintaining a sense of place amongst colleagues. The need to find relevant occupation led to hand-making face masks based on millinery-making principles. The following article by Melanie Sheridan considers the creative possibilitesthat spring from the surprise must-have fashion accessory of 2020.

09.01.2022 ‘Millinery Journey’ is such a commonplace appellation that does not always live up to the promise of sailing to the edge of the world with the risk of falling off.... I have just unearthed this pre-technology-quality photograph of my little piece of independent London life circa 1990. I present the legendary ‘furnished room’ or coldwater ‘flat’. The tap and prewar gas oven just out of view beyond the fireplace. Penny-in-the-slot gas and electric and original Edwardian windo...ws complete with rattling glass panes. Rent collected in person by Mr O’Malley on Fridays (cash in an envelope left on the mantelpiece). A huge red brick 1901 pile still fitted with the remnants of grandeur but by then clogged with umpteen coats of paint, shabby and ‘’fallen’.... think Dr Zhivago’s Moscow house post-revolution. Precarious bathroom replete with ‘flame-thrower’ gas hotwater ‘ascot’ up one flight of stairs whilst the toilet (sans siège de toilette) lay halfway down another. No fire escape nor fire hydrant. Working brothel on the ground floor occupying the garden flat and lovebird drunkards directly below me, who after brawling most Saturday nights reconciled with violent make-up sex leading to hand-holding, domestic bliss until the next weekend came around. I cozied the place up a bit, resided there for over 2 years and thanked God every night that I could pay my way working as a milliner in the greatest city in the world. I returned this year in March after nearly 30 years just as Covid 19 swept the city. Of all the now gentrified houses in the row, this house seemed down-at-heel as ever..... I stood remembering and then looking down, spied the stump of the monkey puzzle tree that had towered over the pathway all those decades before. Millinery journeys.... indeed. See more

06.01.2022 Despite being in lockdown, 2020 has been a year of on-going activity. Teaching for B_Unique Millinery has been a big change of pace for me and I will be participating in their Millinery Mayhem 48 hour Weekend. This is my class ‘headdress or trimming?’ Really a series of approaches to creating original headwear and to get the ‘milliner within’ thinking about materials and their potential. Bookings on B-Unique Website.

05.01.2022 Fantastic class @B-Unique Millinery last Friday teaching my ‘millinery hack’ class to enthusiastic students. Applying a model-millinery approach to pre-blocked, standard elements to achieve a high-end fashion appeal. Students employing their personal millinery touch all achieved an individual spin to their hats. Great results all around!

04.01.2022 Derby Eve 2020. Up early to complete orders and get them out the door. Mask-making continues and takes on a new importance as Covid-normal means face-to-face contact. Devising schemes, sourcing materials, manufacturing all feels like business as usual. Many thanks to Paul @SelnitRex for extraordinary service.

04.01.2022 Everything is running to time..... an order for Melbourne Cup Day was placed today! What will the ‘motif’ be? # justliketheolddays

02.01.2022 The desire to elevate the work-a-day to something nudging frivolity is a thread common to the tradition of fashion. At the outbreak of WW2, gas-mask cases fashioned from fancy fabrications appeared in smart stores. Vivien Leigh quickly secured a black patent leather example; feeling terribly chic until two working-class girls sniggered at her on the No.11 bus in the King’s Road. The risk of leading the parade, I suppose, but a great story later on........ We present ‘Kiss-of-the-Catwoman’.

01.01.2022 Scheduled to suit those students who prefer week-end classes, a class that provides a different angle on the traditional rose trimmed hat. Take the class at face value as a 'hack' using readily available elements to create a 'milliner's confection' through creative trickery. Alternatively, employ these ideas on hand-made shapes or with hand created rose petals.... A window int the way I think. Don't miss the silk covered 'beret-core' trimming and a quick veiling trick......oh... and wire prongs! https://www.buniquemillinery.com//b-unique-with-millinery- See more

01.01.2022 The B Unique Virtual Training samples clustered in my workroom. A brilliant class this morning investigating the potential of sinemay lined straw hats without wire. Millinery Hack and Heart-Felt are the next classes this month. Time to upskill and tap into work-room trianed know-how.